The following U.S. patents comprise the closest known relevant prior art:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,965; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 874,933; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 117,765; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,759,140; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 905,975; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,534,680.
The prior art discloses various structures for displaying and storing a plurality of containers in a rotatable structure that may be turned to bring any of the containers into convenient proximity. Many of these devices employ structures for engaging the cap or neck of a jar or bottle. Others include rotatable shelves which support the bottoms of jars or bottles of comestible goods. In either case, these prior art devices are generally very substantial in construction, and are completely assembled in finished form at the time of manufacture. Thus these devices must be shipped and handled in fully assembled configuration, resulting in a great deal of wasted shipping space.
Furthermore, the prior art devices generally comprise a plurality of shelf units which are rotatable about a central axis, and are spaced apart in the axial direction by a fixed and invariable amount. Although this form of construction may suffice for containers of paint or jars of spices, it is not the optimal configuration for supporting jars of food for babies and infants. It is well known that foods prepared for babies and infants are sold in jars of varying sizes, and that as newborn children grow they require larger food portions and therefore larger jars of food. However, there is no known carousel device in the prior art which provides variable shelf spacing to accommodate the differing sizes of food containers commonly marketed for consumption by babies and infants. Nor is there known any prior art carousel device which is designed to be shipped and sold in disassembled condition, and which is easily reassembled for use.